Electric motors, such as are used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, fluid circulation systems, and other systems, often must be programmed to operate according to the specific needs of these systems. The motors are programmed using a specialized motor programming computer at a motor manufacturing facility, at the point of sale, or at an assembly plant. Programming a motor that is already onsite requires a technician to return the motor to the motor manufacturing facility or to another designated programming site that has the necessary specialized motor programming computer. Similarly, motors at inventory sites that do not have a specialized motor programming computer must be sent back to the motor manufacturing facility to be programmed for their selected applications.
After they leave the manufacturing facility, motors occasionally have to be reprogrammed or tuned, diagnosed, or replaced with new motors when they malfunction or otherwise no longer work properly or optimally. A technician performing such work is required to have or obtain and carry a programming tool, including a connector, suitable for physically connecting to and interfacing with the specific motor or the specific type of motor at issue. For example, a technician arriving on-site with a replacement motor can either extract the programmed parameters from the existing motor or download the correct information, if available, from a database using wireless communication. However, both options require the technician to have or obtain and carry the proper programming tool, including a connector for physically connecting to the existing and/or replacement motors to accomplish the task. Different motors, different types of motors, or different brands of motors may require different programming tools, particularly different physical connectors, and having or obtaining and carrying the several different physical connectors that may be needed increases the cost and time required to perform the work. Further, motors, especially motors that are incorporated into larger systems, may be difficult to access in order to make the required physical connections, and dismantling the larger systems in order to gain such access can further increase the cost and time needed to perform the work.